Publication

This paper discusses US efforts to lead the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the rearrangement of the APEC agenda by Asian leaders in 1995. The author argues that this new agenda-setting approach has set aside US calls for market liberalization in order to place more emphasis on regional economic development. According to the author, the move reflects a changed environment in which Japan and the ASEAN countries are more self-confident. The author suggests that a major long-range US goal should be to make APEC a starting point for a multilateral process to deal with looming security questions in Asia.